After reading the story, Araby by James Joyce, I just wanted to throw my book at the wall because it was so terrible. The beginning was so incredibly boring that I wanted to punch someone. It had way too much detail and that usually makes me bored very quickly. It also frustrated me how the boy was too nervous to talk to Mangan's sister. In my opinion, if you truly like someone, you would talk to them and not just admire them from a far. I didn't really understand what this story was supposed to prove either. The ending was what really got to me. The boy wanted to buy his crush something from the bazaar but couldn't for whatever reason so I guess the story just ends with his misery. That to me, is such a dumb way to end a story.
-Megan Kane
Araby seemed quite interesting to me, actually. I loved the writing style of the author, as James Joyce was able to describe each and every aspect of the boy's life, giving the reader ample material to create pictures in his or her head. It was amost a tragedy in that the boy seemed to fall out of love by the end of the story, when he came to the realization that not only was he late to the bazaar, which limited the stores he could shop at to only a few, but also that the expensive glass jars that he saw and wished to buy for Mangan's sister were far out of his price range. I loved how the author provided enough detail to provide a beautiful picture, yet left out details such as the boy's name, so that the reader could really create his or her own character to go through the story.
-Thomas Moran
I did not really care for the short story, Araby by James Joyce. I found it to be a tad on the boring side because it never caught my attention or held my interest throughout the story. I did not agree with the writing style of the author, I think his style of writing was very long winded and I just did not care too much for it. I think James Joyce put way to many unimportant details throughout the story, which made it hard to follow for me and made me ask the question, “why is this part even in the story?”. I think he dragged on the story too long because the topic of the story being the boy trying to put some excitement in his life, could have been said easily within five sentences. Even at the end the boy was disappointed with Araby, which made the story pointless. I truly did not care for this story, whatsoever.
-Nikita Lewis
The short story Araby by James Joyce didn’t interest me at all. When I began to read it, it didn’t catch my attention right away which made it very hard for me to get into. The way James Joyce wrote it, the story dragged on longer then it needed to. The boy wanted excitement in his life, that’s it, and James just dragged the story on way too long. Also, there was unnecessary detail all throughout the short story. If you took away two thirds of the detail in the story, it wouldn’t change at all. If anything, it would be a little bit more interesting because the story wouldn’t have dragged on and on. At the end of the story, nothing was accomplished at all. The boy was still disappointed in Araby which seemed to make the story even worse because the story ended the same way it began.
-Shelby Friend
The short story Araby, by James Joyce, was extremely boring and hardly made sense. It consisted of a boy with a childhood lover whom he never spoke to. This concept proved confusing and not a lot was known by the time this story ended. Nothing in this story really caught my attention or made me second guess myself, there was no action at all, and I can hardly relate to this character. After reading this 4 page story I feel no desire to look for anything deeper in it. The author was certainly aiming for something with this however it was not visible to me. As far as the structure goes it had numerous descriptions and details that seemed hardly necessary. I didn’t like this story at all due to the lack of interesting moments and lack of sense that the story made as a whole. -Zack Hutton James Joyce’s short story “Araby” was, in my opinion, extremely dull. James Joyce used way too many details that did not seem to relate to the main theme of the story. Joyce went on and on about the house where the priest died, but that did not really have anything to do with the rest of the story. I feel the story was boring because the beginning did not grab my attention whatsoever, so I immediately lost interest in the plot. I also felt that the ending was very weak because the main character did not achieve anything. Then the story just ended with him being angry because he did not find anything to buy at the Araby. The story also lacked any type of suspense, so it did not leave me wanted to find out what happens next. I probably would have liked the story a little bit more if there was some kind of mystery or suspense. –Melissa Belanger
The short story Araby by James Joyce was absolutely terrible and difficult to comprehend. The first two pages of this short story were just boring descriptions that were filled with way too much detail that it was hard to read through and actually put me to sleep for awhile. Once I woke up and finished the book, I still hated it because nothing happened at all to the very end. It was just some boy that wanted to see some girl, but couldn’t, so he goes to a bazaar where he finds nothing there as well. Then the story ends with this child in sadness and melancholy. That’s it? He just stands there unhappy? What a terrible and open ending to the story. This story contained nothing appealing to me at all: no action, suspense, or anything relatable to the main character. I really wouldn’t recommend this story to anyone at all.
-Raymond To
The short story Araby by James Joyce was not at all interesting and one of the many stories that i do not care for. The book went into a lot of detail and I felt that a lot of it was not needed. This story included no action which bored me and left me extremely unhappy, I kept waiting for something exciting to come along but to my disappointment nothing that was even interesting happened. I also did not like the plot that the story followed nor how the story ended. Much like the story, the ending ended the same way, disappointing. The story ends with the boy in sadness. All these points add up and create what kind of story i do not like: boring, dull, too detailed, no action, and basically with no plot.
-David Morse
I found the short story Araby by James Joyce quite boring in my opinion. When I first began reading the story I had no idea what to expect, I had never heard of the story or read it before. As I began the story seemed bland and uneventful, I found it hard to concentrate on and difficult to understand. There was no story line, the author just jumped into describing, in great detail this house, which may be a way to grab peoples attention, but did not interest me. As the story gained characters they were not described or introduced, they just seemed to be thrown into the mix, which seems to be the trend in this story. I did not understand the author’s purpose for telling or writing this story; it was almost an incomplete idea in my opinion. I would rather avoid reading this story again if at all possible.
-Leah Schultz
I didn’t like the short story Araby by James Joyce. The first page caught my attention, but after that it was dragged out and boring. Since the end was left to the readers to interpret, I’m not sure what the point of the story was. A boy walks by this girl day after day, desparate to get a glance from her. When he finally talks to her, nothing even comes from it. The story doesn’t end with them going on a date or getting together, the boy is just alone and sad. I would have preferred a more definite ending.
- Jaqueline Linden
The Araby, by James Joyce, was not one of my favorite stories that we have read in class. Although Joyce has had the best writing of the stories we have read (incorporating a lot of detail and wrote on a level im used to, unlike Hills Like White Elephants, which was very elementary), I often found myself re-reading many sections throughout the story. My mind was constantly wandering on where the main character was and trying so hard to picture the setting, that I completely lost sight of what the plot was even about. It made my reading effort even more confusing once i hit the last page and was utterly disappointed in the ending. There was no ending... I understand the author's effort in trying to get the reader to imagine what happens next, but I, as a reader, was fussing too much on what even happened in the story, not what was going to happen. This was not one of my favorites, hopefully the next story will be better.
--Haley Jacob
I hated The Araby by James Joyce, for a number of reasons. For one the ending was the worst. Why would you ever end a story like that? Now, I am a person who is all about endings that leave the reader to interpret the meaning, but it was just awful. I mean the story just ends without the main character accomplishing anything. He put forth a lot of effort to make a girl happy and ends up with neither of them satisfied. I find this story quite depressing and it bummed me out for a couple of minutes. When I read a story I want to smile, maybe laugh, and most of all have fun doing it. I would love James Joyce and tell him to write something people want to read. The poor guy was just trying to make a girl's day. The story just dragged on without much being accomplished. I hated it. Come see me James Joyce.
-Scott Saunders
I did not enjoy reading Arabay by James Joyce for many reasons. Although I enjoyed the rich vocabulary and vivid descriptions, the story lacked an interesting plot. I feel like the story was aimed more towards male readers so I could not easily relate to the story whatsoever. The boy, though very cute in his attempts to try and impress the older girl, seemed to be somewhat neglected at home and I feel that this was one of the reasons that he had such propensity towards the girl. This story could have been more enjoyable if it was part of a larger story or novel with a more intricate plot, but had almost no point on its own as a work. I also severly disliked the open-ended ending because I feel that the author was not leaving it for the reader to come up with something creative, he was just lazy and had no idea what kind of ending he would have chosen so he ended it at a random point.
-Emma Kurfis
I did not like the Araby short story what so ever. There are many reasons I didn't like story but the main reason is I did not enjoy the ending. I like endings with a little bit of a twist or something but this one was just dull and left no one that happy. I thought the author did a good job describing every aspect of the kids life, even though I had to go back and re-read some parts because of the complexity, but I can't help but feel all that descriptive writing was worthless because the ending was terrible. I admired the boys quest to make the older girl happy, that reminds me of myself when I was younger except I would do a little bit better job I would say.
-Greg Plachta
Araby was awful! The beginning was very slow and didn't really catch my attention so it made it harder for me to engage in. There was a lot of uneccessary detail that really had nothing to do with the whole point of it. And the plot was dumb anyways. I thought the boy would man up and get the girl in the end, but for whatever reason he didn't and he still hadn't accomplished anything by the end. The story goes on and on about how all he wants is excitement and satisfaction, then the ending comes and blows up in your face. I don't get why someone would write about being defeated, it was just dissapointing.
-Jackie Plevelich
I found Araby to be quite boring throughout the story, the sentences dragged on. Although the plot did have a realistic purpose, which is what I look for in my reading, I thought it made the boy seem quite pathetic. He likes Mangans sister so he decides to basically stalk her by watching her from a distance, instead of getting up the courage to actually talk to the girl. When he finally decides to do something somewhat normal, like buy her a gift to tell her he likes her, he fails miserably by getting to the bazzar late. This causes him to not have much of a selection and he ends up not getting anything at all. I just thought that it could of been much better and that the author could have spiced it up a little bit by giving us somewhat of a surprise instead of making the boy be a disaster the whole time.
-Jacqueline Pyros
-Megan Kane
Araby seemed quite interesting to me, actually. I loved the writing style of the author, as James Joyce was able to describe each and every aspect of the boy's life, giving the reader ample material to create pictures in his or her head. It was amost a tragedy in that the boy seemed to fall out of love by the end of the story, when he came to the realization that not only was he late to the bazaar, which limited the stores he could shop at to only a few, but also that the expensive glass jars that he saw and wished to buy for Mangan's sister were far out of his price range. I loved how the author provided enough detail to provide a beautiful picture, yet left out details such as the boy's name, so that the reader could really create his or her own character to go through the story.
-Thomas Moran
I did not really care for the short story, Araby by James Joyce. I found it to be a tad on the boring side because it never caught my attention or held my interest throughout the story. I did not agree with the writing style of the author, I think his style of writing was very long winded and I just did not care too much for it. I think James Joyce put way to many unimportant details throughout the story, which made it hard to follow for me and made me ask the question, “why is this part even in the story?”. I think he dragged on the story too long because the topic of the story being the boy trying to put some excitement in his life, could have been said easily within five sentences. Even at the end the boy was disappointed with Araby, which made the story pointless. I truly did not care for this story, whatsoever.
-Nikita Lewis
The short story Araby by James Joyce didn’t interest me at all. When I began to read it, it didn’t catch my attention right away which made it very hard for me to get into. The way James Joyce wrote it, the story dragged on longer then it needed to. The boy wanted excitement in his life, that’s it, and James just dragged the story on way too long. Also, there was unnecessary detail all throughout the short story. If you took away two thirds of the detail in the story, it wouldn’t change at all. If anything, it would be a little bit more interesting because the story wouldn’t have dragged on and on. At the end of the story, nothing was accomplished at all. The boy was still disappointed in Araby which seemed to make the story even worse because the story ended the same way it began.
-Shelby Friend
The short story Araby, by James Joyce, was extremely boring and hardly made sense. It consisted of a boy with a childhood lover whom he never spoke to. This concept proved confusing and not a lot was known by the time this story ended. Nothing in this story really caught my attention or made me second guess myself, there was no action at all, and I can hardly relate to this character. After reading this 4 page story I feel no desire to look for anything deeper in it. The author was certainly aiming for something with this however it was not visible to me. As far as the structure goes it had numerous descriptions and details that seemed hardly necessary. I didn’t like this story at all due to the lack of interesting moments and lack of sense that the story made as a whole.
-Zack Hutton
James Joyce’s short story “Araby” was, in my opinion, extremely dull. James Joyce used way too many details that did not seem to relate to the main theme of the story. Joyce went on and on about the house where the priest died, but that did not really have anything to do with the rest of the story. I feel the story was boring because the beginning did not grab my attention whatsoever, so I immediately lost interest in the plot. I also felt that the ending was very weak because the main character did not achieve anything. Then the story just ended with him being angry because he did not find anything to buy at the Araby. The story also lacked any type of suspense, so it did not leave me wanted to find out what happens next. I probably would have liked the story a little bit more if there was some kind of mystery or suspense.
–Melissa Belanger
The short story Araby by James Joyce was absolutely terrible and difficult to comprehend. The first two pages of this short story were just boring descriptions that were filled with way too much detail that it was hard to read through and actually put me to sleep for awhile. Once I woke up and finished the book, I still hated it because nothing happened at all to the very end. It was just some boy that wanted to see some girl, but couldn’t, so he goes to a bazaar where he finds nothing there as well. Then the story ends with this child in sadness and melancholy. That’s it? He just stands there unhappy? What a terrible and open ending to the story. This story contained nothing appealing to me at all: no action, suspense, or anything relatable to the main character. I really wouldn’t recommend this story to anyone at all.
-Raymond To
The short story Araby by James Joyce was not at all interesting and one of the many stories that i do not care for. The book went into a lot of detail and I felt that a lot of it was not needed. This story included no action which bored me and left me extremely unhappy, I kept waiting for something exciting to come along but to my disappointment nothing that was even interesting happened. I also did not like the plot that the story followed nor how the story ended. Much like the story, the ending ended the same way, disappointing. The story ends with the boy in sadness. All these points add up and create what kind of story i do not like: boring, dull, too detailed, no action, and basically with no plot.
-David Morse
I found the short story Araby by James Joyce quite boring in my opinion. When I first began reading the story I had no idea what to expect, I had never heard of the story or read it before. As I began the story seemed bland and uneventful, I found it hard to concentrate on and difficult to understand. There was no story line, the author just jumped into describing, in great detail this house, which may be a way to grab peoples attention, but did not interest me. As the story gained characters they were not described or introduced, they just seemed to be thrown into the mix, which seems to be the trend in this story. I did not understand the author’s purpose for telling or writing this story; it was almost an incomplete idea in my opinion. I would rather avoid reading this story again if at all possible.
-Leah Schultz
I didn’t like the short story Araby by James Joyce. The first page caught my attention, but after that it was dragged out and boring. Since the end was left to the readers to interpret, I’m not sure what the point of the story was. A boy walks by this girl day after day, desparate to get a glance from her. When he finally talks to her, nothing even comes from it. The story doesn’t end with them going on a date or getting together, the boy is just alone and sad. I would have preferred a more definite ending.
- Jaqueline Linden
The Araby, by James Joyce, was not one of my favorite stories that we have read in class. Although Joyce has had the best writing of the stories we have read (incorporating a lot of detail and wrote on a level im used to, unlike Hills Like White Elephants, which was very elementary), I often found myself re-reading many sections throughout the story. My mind was constantly wandering on where the main character was and trying so hard to picture the setting, that I completely lost sight of what the plot was even about. It made my reading effort even more confusing once i hit the last page and was utterly disappointed in the ending. There was no ending... I understand the author's effort in trying to get the reader to imagine what happens next, but I, as a reader, was fussing too much on what even happened in the story, not what was going to happen. This was not one of my favorites, hopefully the next story will be better.
--Haley Jacob
I hated The Araby by James Joyce, for a number of reasons. For one the ending was the worst. Why would you ever end a story like that? Now, I am a person who is all about endings that leave the reader to interpret the meaning, but it was just awful. I mean the story just ends without the main character accomplishing anything. He put forth a lot of effort to make a girl happy and ends up with neither of them satisfied. I find this story quite depressing and it bummed me out for a couple of minutes. When I read a story I want to smile, maybe laugh, and most of all have fun doing it. I would love James Joyce and tell him to write something people want to read. The poor guy was just trying to make a girl's day. The story just dragged on without much being accomplished. I hated it. Come see me James Joyce.
-Scott Saunders
I did not enjoy reading Arabay by James Joyce for many reasons. Although I enjoyed the rich vocabulary and vivid descriptions, the story lacked an interesting plot. I feel like the story was aimed more towards male readers so I could not easily relate to the story whatsoever. The boy, though very cute in his attempts to try and impress the older girl, seemed to be somewhat neglected at home and I feel that this was one of the reasons that he had such propensity towards the girl. This story could have been more enjoyable if it was part of a larger story or novel with a more intricate plot, but had almost no point on its own as a work. I also severly disliked the open-ended ending because I feel that the author was not leaving it for the reader to come up with something creative, he was just lazy and had no idea what kind of ending he would have chosen so he ended it at a random point.
-Emma Kurfis
I did not like the Araby short story what so ever. There are many reasons I didn't like story but the main reason is I did not enjoy the ending. I like endings with a little bit of a twist or something but this one was just dull and left no one that happy. I thought the author did a good job describing every aspect of the kids life, even though I had to go back and re-read some parts because of the complexity, but I can't help but feel all that descriptive writing was worthless because the ending was terrible. I admired the boys quest to make the older girl happy, that reminds me of myself when I was younger except I would do a little bit better job I would say.
-Greg Plachta
Araby was awful! The beginning was very slow and didn't really catch my attention so it made it harder for me to engage in. There was a lot of uneccessary detail that really had nothing to do with the whole point of it. And the plot was dumb anyways. I thought the boy would man up and get the girl in the end, but for whatever reason he didn't and he still hadn't accomplished anything by the end. The story goes on and on about how all he wants is excitement and satisfaction, then the ending comes and blows up in your face. I don't get why someone would write about being defeated, it was just dissapointing.
-Jackie Plevelich
I found Araby to be quite boring throughout the story, the sentences dragged on. Although the plot did have a realistic purpose, which is what I look for in my reading, I thought it made the boy seem quite pathetic. He likes Mangans sister so he decides to basically stalk her by watching her from a distance, instead of getting up the courage to actually talk to the girl. When he finally decides to do something somewhat normal, like buy her a gift to tell her he likes her, he fails miserably by getting to the bazzar late. This causes him to not have much of a selection and he ends up not getting anything at all. I just thought that it could of been much better and that the author could have spiced it up a little bit by giving us somewhat of a surprise instead of making the boy be a disaster the whole time.
-Jacqueline Pyros